"Albus, my boy!" Slughorn clapped his hands together.
"Afternoon, Sir." Albus gave a tight smile, closing the classroom door behind him.
"It is lovely to see you! What brings you here?"
"You don't know?" Albus furrowed his brows, placing his book bag on the closest desk to him.
"Know what, my boy?"
"I have detention, with you." Albus smiled, watching Slughorn look into the distance.
Albus watched the Professor ponder for a minute, trying to recall being told this information. He gasp once it came to him.
"Ah yes!" Slughorn snapped back to his thoughts, "You and Scorpius?"
"Yes, James is with The head of Gryffindor." Albus nodded, "What do you want me to do?"
Slughorn looked around the room, thinking of something Albus could do.
"I'm not entirely sure, my classroom isn't dirty as it's the second day." Slughorn paused, pacing around his own desk.
"Oh, that's brilliant." Albus licked his dry lips, "I can go if you want."
"No, no." Slughorn was thinking again, "I have something, but I need Scorpius to show up."
"Alright." Albus smiled, he couldn't be rude to Slughorn. He was a fairly nice Professor.
It was silent as Albus and Slughorn waited for Scorpius. It seemed the Malfoy didn't enjoy being on time, which was unexpected from him. At least Albus thought so.
"Ah, yes! The closet!" Slughorn exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. "You see, Albus, there's a rather cluttered closet in the back of the classroom that hasn't been touched in ages. It's filled with old potion ingredients, some of which are probably past their prime."
Albus raised an eyebrow. "You want us to clean that out?"
"Exactly! Scorpius and you will tackle it together," Slughorn explained, rubbing his hands together. "It'll be a great opportunity to sort through everything, and who knows, you might even find some rare ingredients that could be useful for future lessons!"
Great.
Albus nodded, intrigued. "Alright, sounds like a plan."
"Splendid!" Slughorn beamed. "Let's wait for Scorpius and then we can get started. I promise it'll be more fun than it sounds!"
"I do not doubt your confidence, Sir." Albus sarcastically spoke, but by Slughorn's nodding it seemed like he didn't quite understand the sarcasm.
Just then, the door creaked open, and Scorpius walked in, his eyes slightly red and puffy. He tried to put on a brave face, but it was clear something was bothering him.
"Did I miss something important?" he asked, his voice a bit shaky.
Albus exchanged a concerned glance with him. "Not at all, Scorpius! We were just discussing our little adventure in the closet."
Slughorn, still cheerful, clapped his hands together. "Excellent! Let's get started, shall we?"
Before they could move, Professor McGonagall entered the room, her expression serious.
"Malfoy was in my office, Horace." She approached Slughorn and leaned in to whisper something else in his ear. Slughorn's smile faded slightly as he listened, and he nodded, glancing back at Scorpius with a look of concern.
"Scorpius, my boy," Slughorn said gently, "if there's anything on your mind, you can always talk to us, my boy."
Scorpius forced a smile but didn't respond, his gaze drifting to the floor. Albus felt a knot tighten in his stomach—he could tell that whatever was bothering Scorpius was weighing heavily on him.
